Violent shoplifter in Maplewood punches security officer, then getaway driver rams police cars trying to escape
MAPLEWOOD MO December 18 2019 — A woman shoplifting from a Maplewood clothing store punched a security officer, then jumped into a getaway car that rammed three police cars and other vehicles on Friday, authorities say.
“They’re just brazen today,” Maplewood Police Chief Steve Kruse said.
“What we’re seeing is, they’re coming into these stores and just grabbing items,” Kruse said. “Then they jump in the car and take off. And they’re not going to stop if the police try to stop them.”
The crime-spree began about 5 p.m. Friday in the Deer Creek Shopping Center in Maplewood.
St. Louis County prosecutors charged the woman, Judeia Tajiesh Jones, with second-degree robbery and resisting arrest. Her alleged accomplice and driver, Shaun Michael Foster, is charged with four felonies, including assault and resisting arrest.
Jones, 28, was being held Monday in lieu of $100,000 bail. She lives in the 300 block of Chicago Street in Kirkwood. Foster, 32, was held on $200,000 bail. He lives in the 7600 block of Lynn Avenue in University City.
Police said Jones, Foster and a third person went into the Marshall’s store at 3200 Laclede Station Road. The store’s loss-prevention officer who was watching video surveillance in the security office recognized Jones and Foster from previous thefts, and told an off-duty Maplewood police officer who was in the store working security for Marshall’s, Kruse said.
The store’s video surveillance showed Jones, Foster and a third shoplifter run out of the store, with arms full of clothing, police said.
The female loss-prevention officer tried to stop Jones, and Jones punched the officer, police said. The loss-prevention officer is employed by Marshall’s and is not a police officer.
The off-duty Maplewood police officer heard the commotion and ran after Jones onto the parking lot. The trio of shoplifters were in a maroon 1994 Ford Explorer. They locked the cars doors as the officer tried to confront them, Kruse said.
As the Explorer drove off, a Maplewood officer in an unmarked police car pulled onto the parking lot of Marshall’s with its emergency lights on. The Maplewood police officer tried to use her vehicle to block the getaway car, but the Explorer rammed the front of the police car, Kruse said. The officer was unhurt.
The getaway driver then put the Explorer in reverse and nearly ran over bystanders, Kruse said.
The Explorer raced down Big Bend Boulevard, driving erratically, police said. A Shrewsbury police officer saw the Explorer rear-end a white Volkswagen. Then the Explorer hit two Shrewsbury marked police cars. One of the Shrewsbury officers suffered a possible concussion and knee injury in the crash, Kruse said.
The Explorer spun around, hitting another car, then backed up at high speed and hit the Shrewsbury officer’s car again, according to court documents.
The Explorer sped off, for several more miles, before crashing near Elm Avenue and Interstate 44 in Webster Groves. Police said Jones and Foster ran from the car but were soon arrested. The third person stayed in the car.
Foster’s criminal record includes burglary and property-damage convictions, police said. Jones was out on bail in a previous stealing case, police said. The third person involved in the shoplifting, Darren Gambrell, was charged in Maplewood municipal court with stealing, resisting arrest and failure to comply.
Online court records on Monday did not list attorneys who might be representing any of the three people charged.
